Animals and Literature

"I feel I'm an old spirit, I float around places... I see old sites and recall so many loves and times... As an old spirit I roam around the hidden city... I cross walls and see blood oozing from bricks, pain circling me everywhere, broken paws try to touch me, blinded eyes try to see me, tortured bodies left to die... I see so much cruelty, I wondered how I could,long ago, belong to the human race... I roam around their cages, I try to soften their pain... I just become one with it... The suffering of animals... it is the suffering of the Earth!"

I am the Voice by Elizabeth Aldam

"I am the voice that cries for the ones trapped in lonely places,

I am the voice that cries for the ones who die screaming in cruel laboratories, in factories and slaughterhouses...

I am the voice that cries for the ones who are no longer 'useful' and are left to die...

I am the voice that cries for the ones gassed in shelters, for the poor tortured ones for the ones bred to fight, for the ones bred to run...

I am the voice that cries for the ones that have no hope, for the ones exterminated, for the ones who never see daylight, for the ones chained in a backyard, for the poisoned strays, for the abused ones...

I am the voice that cries for the ones whose backs break under a heavy load...

I am the voice that cries for the victims of festivals and bullfights…

I am the voice that cries for the murdered seals and the exploited ones…

I am the voice that cries for animals wherever these might be…

One day the world will hear, my cry will not die with me…"

Spawn Again by Silverchair

"Death becomes clearer through bloodshot eyes As a death from old age becomes nearer Why can't the livestock be free When trading soldiers for steak Learn to evolve with the new transition To act upon a hypocritical vision Discard the old and in with the new Discard the old and in with the fashion

Learn to evolve with the new transition To act upon a hypocritical vision Learn to evolve, learn to, learn to evolve

Who is the bad guy for iron Require mince these are the facts So eat what you murder This is animal liberation Eight billion killed for human pleasure

Bring on the ape farm Demolish the monkeys Drink up, drink up Look down on junkies

A new hypocritical look and ambition The time has come To make the decision you... Drink up, drink up, look down I'll hold it back, I'll hold it back

Discard the old, in with the fashion

Death becomes clearer through bloodshot eyes Death becomes clearer through bloodshot eyes"

"Exploited, neglected, yet gentle and mild, Trusting, dependent and meek as a child, A calf-bearing, milk-giving, living machine Sentenced to terrors unknown and unseen.

She's led from the orchards and fields she has known To share the grim fate of her offspring, alone, With nothing to comfort her, no one to care Or quiet her anguished laments of despair.

She's killed like her kindred, so woefully born With little to bury and few who will mourn Her agonized death, or its premature knell In blood-reeking slaughterhouse chambers of hell.

She's brutally butchered along with the rest, Her heart draining blood as it pounds in her breast, And screams of the dying all echo her fears As death softly muffles the horror she hears. The tongue that she used when cudding her hay, While drowsing in pasture lands yesterday Is eaten by humans, every part, Along with her flesh and benevolent heart.

It should be remembered her severed remains Were once something living off grasses and grains, Who never had killed, not did any meat crave - Yet now is condemned to some stomach's warm grave.

With skilled self-deception her murderers find Expedient dogmas to coddle their minds Or quote from the scriptures a custom or rule To justify systems inherently cruel.

With false proclamations her murderers' creeds Keep rationalizing their barbarous deeds, But nothing can sanction avoidable crime, And life less than human is not less sublime.

Oh when will the beasts of the air, sea and earth Be thought of as each owning singular worth, With reverence that's based on a kindness which springs From knowing life's precious to all living things?

Oh when will man find that no gain can abate The crimes homocentric endeavors create? Oh when will man find his brutality grim And note how his cruelty diminishes him?

Oh when will man, cherishing all life, seek ways To break savage shackles of flesh-eating days, And feed on the vegetable fruits of the land With an appetite worthy of civilized man?"

Duane Locke

"'Child Thanksgiving': Instead of playing with toys, The rocking horse with the gold and red saddle, I listened through the stick-propped-up window to play with gobbles. The women, proud about their selection of spices Danced in the glow from the wood stove's opened door; The men by the parlor fireplace chewed words And spit out opinions on politics. I picked up a pair of scissors to cut away the wire And let the turkey fly away."

Happenstance by Don Young, Fort Smith, AR

"The basement apartment in which I live, allows me no pets with love to give.

But the landlord allows both the spiders and mice, and to my amazement it's worked out nice!

While spiders themselves don't give any hugs, they all do their part in catching the bugs!!

We've made an agreement - myself and the mouse - so he finds his food outside of the house.

A strange arrangement, to say the least, but to 'live and let live' brings its own kind of peace."

The Animals' Plea - I Have A Right by Patty Jaymes

"I have a right not to be made to serve man's selfish need, I'm not a toy when small, and trash when grown. I must not be exploited and be viewed in terms of greed, My life is here to love - and not to own.

I have a right not to be stored and sold like merchandise In pet store, pound or kennel - anywhere. A loving and protective lifelong home would be the price I'd charge of those entrusted with my care.

I have so many feelings that my eyes cannot convey Your voice is needed to describe my plight. Please work to liberate me and to bring about the day That men admit the fact - I HAVE A RIGHT!"

Born To Die by Patty Jaymes

"We hold their lives within our hands To do with what we will, But hands that should be used to help Are being used to kill.

Poor babes, just born to be destroyed - A never-ending chain, Condemned to live in fear, and die In all degrees of pain.

To give them help - give us your hand! Together we shall try To force the world to understand They shouldn't be born, to die!" (Patty Jaymes, shot/killed by fiancee because of her animal rights militancy; he also killed her step-father, then himself!)

Thus spoke the tiger by Elizabeth Aldam

"Beware of humans... with them come the bars that will shut you in...

Beware of humans... with them comes torture to you and your kin...

Beware of humans... they mean the cage, the zoo,the circus, the laughing crowds... the whip,the pain...

Beware of humans... for us they only mean slow, painful death..."

Lost Puppy by Arthur Guiterman

"He was lost - not a shade of doubt of that; For he never barked at a slinking cat, But stood in the square where the wind blew raw

With a drooping ear and a trembling paw And a mournful look in his pleading eye And a plaintive sniff at the passer-by That begged as plain as a tongue could sue,

'Oh Mister! Please may I follow you?' Oh the saddest of sights in a world of sin In a little lost pup with his tail tucked in!"

The Stray Kitten's Appeal by Patty Jaymes

"There's nothing much attractive About me - but my size, I may not look appealing Unless you note my eyes.

They show my life was tragic Right from its very start, And beg for love's sweet shelter With such a hopeful heart.

Please comfort and protect me From all the pain I know, I'm frightened by life's hardship And death is cruel and slow. I did not ask to be here Yet do not want to die, Please hear my silent longing - I've lost the strength to cry."

The Cry of the Animals by Unknown

"We are waiting here, scared and alone Waiting here to die These people can't find us a home Although they try and try.

You see, others wouldn't listen They didn't care enough They let us breed by millions, Till life got really rough.

A little thing called spaying, Would have stopped our misery We wouldn't be unwanted Nor treated cruelly.

As is, we have no future Only two things left for we Tortured in a science lab, Or death to set us free.

Please, all of you who own a pet Help to set us free Free from pain and hopelessness By letting us NOT BE.

Only you can end our suffering Only you can make the way Please spay or neuter all your pets Please call your Vet today!"

Greeting with Love by Edith Lassen Johnson

"I wish someone would tell me what it is That I've done wrong. Why do I have to stay chained up and be Left alone so long?

They seemed so glad to have me when I came here as a pup. There were so many things we'd do While I was growing up.

The Master said he'd train me as a Companion and a friend. The Mistress said she'd never fear To be left alone again.

The children said they'd feed me and Brush me every day. They'd play with me and walk me If I would only stay.

But now the Master 'hasn't Time' The Mistress says I shed She doesn't want me in the house Not even to be fed.

The Children never walk me. They always say, 'Not now' I wish that I could please them. Won't someone tell me how?

All I had, you see, was love. I wish they would explain Why they said they wanted mine, And then left it on a chain???" (From a Lonely Dog)

Mercy Death by Marion Cecelia Crowe, Animal Helpers, England

"A pretty kitten once... so soft and clean.... Yet you become a stray, sad eyed and thin; Homeless, unwanted, scourged from place to place, Tormenting fleas and sores upon your skin.

So, gently 'put to sleep' by kindly hands, Your body placed in earth beneath a tree Is safe from kicks and stones, or agony In vivisection's hell of cruelty.

You will not wander, will not slowly starve Or die in anguish, trapped in wire or steel. And though about the place where now you sleep The bitter winds may blow, you will not feel."

A Hunter's Poem by Lem Ward Crisfield

"A hunter shot at a flock of geese That flew within his reach. Two were stopped in their rapid flight And fell on the sandy beach.

The male bird lay at the water's edge And just before he died He faintly called to his wounded mate And she dragged herself to his side.

She bent her head and crooned to him In a way distressed and wild Caressing her one and only mate As a mother would a child.

Then covering him with her broken wing And gasping with failing breath She laid her head against his breast A feeble honk... then death!

This story is true though crudely told, I was the man in this case. I stood knee deep in snow and cold, And the hot tears burned my face.

I buried the birds in the sand where they lay Wrapped in my hunting coat And I threw my gun and belt in the bay When I crossed in the open boat.

Hunters will call me a right poor sport And scoff at the thing I did. But that day something broke in my heart... And shoot again??? God forbid!!!" (Lem Ward Crisfield, M.D wrote it in the Chronicle, in Crested Butte, CO.)

The Mighty Hunter by Luke A. Dommer

"There is a noble sportsman Who seems to get his thrill Trampling through the thicket Finding animals to kill.

Though beautiful and innocent For them he does not mourn He is the judge and jury Their crime was being born.

And in the church on Sunday You'll 'find him on his knees Praying for some victims Defenseless if you please.

Upon his head he wears a cap Bright red for his protection His courage that some other nut Won't shoot in his direction.

Hung on his walls are creatures Of every perfect kind A type of conservationist Unbalanced in the mind.

He claims a love for nature The indoor lie he scorns But he curses it unkindly If he's wounded by some thorns.

An expert with a rifle For this he takes a bow He may miss a tiny sparrow But not a full-grown cow.

And what if irresponsibly He kills a pet or man - The question is conditional On shooting what he can.

Besides, he has a license To practice in his sport He can make this killing legal With an accident report.

A hero of the forest He boasts for all to hear For he's the mighty hunter Not an ordinary queer." (A great antihunting activist for umpteen years. Fearless, has challenged many to debate in public, and did)

Egoman by Luke A. Dommer

"Of all the mysteries to unfold Nature is the greatest told.

There in the secret of Life's force Dwells the power of our source.

Sad few mortals understand Not to hurt its helping hand.

And that creatures land and sea Are tortured, killed and mocked with glee.

Sacrificed to him of God Who ruins the air and spoils the sod.

Alas - a beast is at the help Who'll spare no others in his realm.

And his numbers shall abound Until the animals make no sound.

And every tree is cut and squared, Each tender blade of gross impaired.

But in the end he must inherit That which he destroyed with merit.

The final victim of his rape None of his members shall escape. For it is not in Nature's plan - All else should die but Egoman."

Why Animals Need You by Patty Jaymes

"Because they have a voice to cry Without the words to tell you why;

Or silently their sad eyes plead For mercy others fail to heed.

Because of crimes few people know In factory farm and rodeo,

In careless home and puppy mill That breed the surplus shelters kill,

In laboratory cage and stall Where pain-racked victims cringe and crawl,

Or scream from cruel restraining chair To those who can't be moved to care.

Because they are crucified in vain - Are made to bear unending pain,

They're hunted, trapped, caged and oppressed Without remorse and without rest;

Because YOU love them - YOU must fight To erase their pain and end their plight,

"This is the voice of the creatures Calling the one that can speak, To rouse the few who may listen On behalf of the dumb and the weak.

Long ago, when our Earth was much younger, When ice covered valley and hill, The cold and the maddening hunger Drove your forebears to hunt and to kill.

And when, after gruesome long ages, The ice withdrew to the pole, You failed to resume the clean living Of a harmless link in the whole.

And now you torture and kill us For profit, for fun - even furs! And what you call 'vivisection' Is a slur on your kind and a curse!

You poison our soil and our water And the air we breathe to survive. You plunder and fell all our forests, Destroying what keeps us alive.

Can't you see that sharing this planet Was truly a wonderful plan? Think again - Are you sure you can face God - Alone on this Earth - brother Man?"

Our Endeavor by Patty Jaymes

"It's hard to change the world, we know, And yet we have to try, So long as cruel injustice lives And gentle creatures die.

While any animals are harmed By thoughtlessness or plan, We'll fight - and feel in serving them We serve the best in man."

A Christmas Seal by Thelma Palazzi

"I'm sitting here writing, it's Thanksgiving Day, It is to the future I find my thoughts stray. Christmas is coming - the 'holiday season' I'll ask you in rhyme to listen to reason.

I don't wish to burden any of you But I've a small favor to ask you to do - Now it is the custom at this time of year To send Christmas cards all filled with good cheer.

If all of you when you sit down to write Think of the seals and their terrible plight You could do much if you'd drop a line To Norway's Ambassador at the same time.

Ask them to stop that horrendous ordeal That's inflicted upon that poor creature, the seal. For one little stamp that's only a dime You could prevent this horrible crime.

Now all of us know God gave us dominion But wanton abuse was NOT HIS opinion. When God determined to give us free will HE DID NOT mean to go out and to kill.

With needless affliction are slain, these poor seals, So near extinction - they need your appeals. So won't you please help them? Their fate don't deny. If you keep silent they surely will die.

Yes, Christmas is coming - it's Jesus' birth, HE wanted things better for us here on earth. Now I'll ask you again - in the name of our Lord, Don't let this favor I ask be ignored!

I know you have troubles but they will get better Their only chance to live is your letter! And when you write it, your spirit will lift Right up top heaven - you're sending a gift!

Just mail out that letter as you would that card You'll really be saying: 'MERRY CHRISTMAS' to God!" (Printed by Animals Need You)

Insects Are Bug People by Patty Jaymes

"Insects are bug people Who can't help being small, That's something hardly anyone Understands at all!

I think bugs are fun to watch But aren't meant to touch,

As catching them will frighten them And hurts them very much.

Sometimes thoughtless children Will kill them just for fun, Or break their little wings and legs So they can't fly or run.

When I see others harming them I always make a fuss, 'Cause I think bugs are people - Like YOU, or ME, or US!"

FREE ME, from the Goldfinger album "Open Your Eyes"

I didn't ask you to take me from here, I didn't ask to be broken, I didn't ask you to stroke my hair, And treat me like a worthless token,

But my skin is thick, and my mind is strong, I am built like my father was, Done nothing wrong,

So free me, Just want to feel what life should be, I just want enough space to turn around, And face the truth, So free me,

When are you gonna realize, You're just wrong, Can't even think for yourself, Can't even make up your mind,

So my mind's a jail, And I hate, the whole goddamn human race, What the hell do you want from me? Kill me if you just don't know..

Or free me, Just want to feel what life should be, I just want enough space to turn around, But you're all fucked, Maybe someday you'll treat me like you.

Rags by Edmund Vance Cooke

We called him "Rags." He was just a cur, But twice, on the Western Line, That little old bunch of faithful fur Had offered his life for mine.

And all that he got was bones and bread, Or the leavings of soldier grub, But he'd give his heart for a pat on the head, Or a friendly tickle and rub.

And Rags got home with the regiment, And then, in the breaking away - Well, whether they stole him, or whether he went, I'm not prepared to say.

But we mustered out, some to beer and gruel, And some to sherry and shad, And I went back to the Sawbones School, Where I still was an undergrad.

One day they took us budding M.D.s To one of those institutes Where they demonstrate every new disease By means of bisected brutes.

They had one animal tacked and tied And slit like a full-dressed fish, With his vitals pumping away inside As pleasant as one might wish.

I stopped to look like the rest, of course, And the beast's eyes leveled mine; His short tail thumped with a feeble force, And he uttered a tender whine.

It was Rags, yes, Rags! Who was martyred there, Who was quartered and crucified, And he whined that whine which is doggish prayer And he licked my hand - and died.

And I was no better in part nor whole Than the gang I was found among, And his innocent blood was on the soul Which he blessed with his dying tongue.

Well! I've seen men go to courageous death In the air, on sea, on land! But only a dog would spend his breath In a kiss for his murderer's hand.

And if there's no heaven for love like that, For such four-legged fealty - well! If I have any choice, I tell you flat, I'll take my chance in hell

Rage in Heaven by Spike Milligan (1918-)

If a robin redbrest in a cage Puts all heaven in a rage, How feels heaven when Dies the billionth battery hen?

Shall I Indeed Delight by Sir Lewis Morris (1833-1907)

Shall I indeed delight To take you, helpless kinsman, fast and bound, And while ye lick my hand Lay bare your veins and nerves in one red wound, Divide the sentient brain; And while the raw flesh quivers with the pain, A calm observer stand, And drop in some keen acid, and watch it bite The writhing life; wrench the still beating heart, And with calm voice meanwhile discourse, and bland, To boys who jeer or sicken as they gaze, Of the great goddess Science and her gracious ways?

The Snare by James Stephens (1882-1950)

I hear a sudden cry of pain! There is a rabbit in a snare: Now I hear the cry again, But I cannot tell from where.

But I cannot tell from where He is calling out for aid! Crying on the frightened air, Making everything afraid!

Making everything afraid! Wrinkling up his little face! And he cries again for aid; - And I cannot find the place!

And I cannot find the place Where his paw is in the snare! Little One! Oh, Little One! I am searching everywhere!

Prayer by Tiruvalluvan (9th century)

May my soul always find fulfilment In friendship towards all beings, In happiness, in the goodness of men, In compassion towards all suffering creatures. May my feeling be neutral towards those hostile. This is my prayer.

When I Shall Die by Olive Fraser (1909-1977)

When I shall die, let there be mountains near, The milk-white ptarmigan, the wand'ring deer. When I shall die, let the poor dipper call Out of her foothills by the waterfall. O let no human, festering, hating heart Come in that place with ignorance or art. Let there be none to mock my life with words But the bare mountains and the calling birds.

Cat Poems - poem for all who have lost a loved one by Mary Frye

Do not stand at my grave and weep... I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow, I am the diamond glints on snow, I am the sunlight on ripened grain, I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awake in the mornings hush, I am the swift upflinging rush... of quiet birds in circling flight, I am the soft star-shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry... I am not there... I did not die... (formerly attributed to Native American sources)

By David Mallett

You say that the battle is over You say that the war is all done Well tell it those with the wind in their nose Who run from the sound of the gun Write it on the sides of the great whaling ships On the ice floes where conscience is tossed With the wind in their eyes, it is they who must die And it's we who must suffer the lost.

Now the blame cannot fall on the heads of a few It's become such a part of the race. It's eternally tragic that which is magic Be killed at the end of the glorious chase From young seals to great whales from waters to wood They will fall just like leaves in the wind And we've fur coats and perfume and trophies of walls What a hell of a race to call men. (recorded by John Denver)

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Animal Friends is a non-profit, non-governmental organization, founded in 2001 with the aim to promote animal protection and animal rights as well as veganism, as ethical, ecological and healthy lifestyle.
Animal Friends Croatia is a member organization of EVU,
Eurogroup for Animals, ECEAE, FFA, IAFC and OIPA.